Common Sense Requires Common People

I've lived in Beverly since 2003. I have never run for public office. And like most of you, I've come to believe that government is completely out of touch with the common people.

Edmund Burke wrote: "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

So I'm doing something. I'm running for congress as a Libertarian in the 6th District of Massachusetts.

The Republicans and Democrats have willfully polarized the country for political gain. The party leaders are actively conspiring against compromise. The worst thing you can be called within your party is "moderate."

I believe that we can change things. One of the downside about the electoral process is that it attracts people who are interested in power. And the ability to win an election is no longer related to the ability to be a good representative.

I don't have any interest in the power. I have never been in an election before, as opposed to my esteemed opponents. But I am willing to serve because of my love of this country. I agree with Lincoln that "years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." My Grandparents came to Lynn in the early 1900s, fleeing oppression and seeking freedom. They found a nation where they were free to act as they chose, so long as they did not hurt anyone else. I want to stand up for that ideal.

Yet that proposition is slipping away. We are becoming a stratified nation -- and it's not really Republicans and Democrats, or blue and red. Now I'll go with Jefferson for a quote:

"Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties:

1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes.

2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depositary of the public interests."

All I ask of you is that you consider which candidate will put more power into your hands. If all power derives from the people, which is the premise of our country, government can not increase power without diminishing the power of the people.

I trust you more than the government does, and I will work to give YOU power over your own lives.